Memories
by Feigning My Innocence
Summary: Written for the challenge at The Domain.
1. Chapter 1

Written for the challenge at The Domain.

* * *

Sky

Light drifted downward through the trees, illuminating the woodland with its soothing glow. Birds sung as they do every morning, welcoming the sun and hoping for a day of successful hunting. A slight breeze whispered quietly, rustling leaves and small branches as it passed.

All was well. Or, it should have been.

Beneath the birds and the trees, a cat lay motionless on the forest floor. Her pelt was caked with mud, and one of her ears had been reduced to a bleeding, ragged stump. Her side had a large gash on it that consisted of four slightly curved lines, and blood dripping from various wounds had tinted patches of her fur to a deep mahogany color.

Slowly, a moan escaped from her open mouth. She cautiously lifted one eyelid, and then closed it again. A chill crept up her spine, and she shivered softly, even the slight motion sending dust spiraling into the air.

She took a deep breath and instantly regretted it. Dust filled her lungs and she began to cough violently, each breath sending a pang through her chest. Eventually, her coughs subsided and she panted heavily. Still lying on the forest floor, she swiveled her head to scan the surroundings, but saw nothing other than trees and wilted grass.

With a deep sigh, she stretched out her limbs and staggered to her feet. Instantly, a jolt of pain shot through her leg. She let out a raspy yowl, her voice cracking due to a dry throat, and her legs crumpled beneath her. She felt the breath escaping from her lungs, and began to desperately gasp for air. Eventually, the pain settled down and her breathing returned to its normal pace.

She blinked several times, her mind spinning wildly. _How will I eat? How will I survive if I can't even walk?_ She thought bitterly, _This leg _should_ feel better after a while… But I'll be dead before I can actually get anywhere on it._

Snarling to herself, she twisted around to look at her leg. Nothing appeared to be wrong on the outside, but if it moved past a certain angle, the pain returned.

She sighed again, and set her head down on the soft dirt. The last thing she saw before she passed into unconsciousness was the sky. There was nothing unusual about it, it was just the same sky she saw every day. But this time, when she saw it, it held new meaning for her.

Under her breath, she cursed the sky.


	2. Chapter 2

Anguish

Anguish

When she woke up, it was nighttime. A dark, eerie gloom had settled over the forest, each tree seemed to be hiding something sinister behind its broad trunk and thick branches. The wind rustled each individual leaf, adding to the ominous effect.

She blinked slowly, just waiting for something to spring out at her from the forest's dark depths. But as she waited, and waited, and waited, she saw nothing. The forest seemed almost as lifeless as it was threatening.

She didn't know how long she'd been asleep, nor did she care. Time had melted together into a string of sunrises and sunsets, completely meaningless. Hunger gnawed at her stomach, eating away at her from the inside, and thirst had clogged up her throat, making speech nearly impossible.

Her leg still hurt, but she hadn't really expected the pain to go away. By now, the anguish was as much a part of her as her tail or her paws. She'd stopped hating the pain, but she didn't exactly like it either. In her mind, the pain wasn't bad, it wasn't good, it just _was._

She closed her eyes and tried to remember the event that had caused her to become like this, nearly dead on the floor of a forest she'd never seen, but nothing came to her. Her mind remained blank, her memories caught in a deep void that hurt her mentally each time she tired to fish them out.

Wincing, she dug deeper into the nothingness, trying to remember. But still nothing came. She sighed and tried to relax her tense body._ I'm done. I'm going to die. I'm going to die with no memory of myself, not even my name._

Tears formed in the corners of her eyes, but she held them back. _If I'm going down, I'm going down strong, _she thought, but deep inside, she knew the words were meaningless. Death was death, and there was nothing she, or anyone else for that matter, could do to stop it. Why would it matter if she cried? No one was here to see her, to laugh at her for her weakness… To help her.

She stopped struggling, and let the tears fall. But those first few tears turned into a rush of tears, and she let the water fall from her eyes, her loud sobs shaking her body slightly. The fur on her face darkened from the wetness. Similarly, the tears tinted the floor below her face, tiny dark brown dots on the light dirt.

_Crying feels good, _she decided, anguish overpowering her, the mental worse than the physical.


End file.
